Mental Health and Technology

Project summary

Although mental health problems occur across the life course it is estimated that half of all lifetime cases of diagnosable mental health problems begin before the age of 14 years. The need for mental health support for adolescents will be at an all-time high following Covid-19.

More young people than ever will need support as a result of isolation and life pressures. In addition, existing service users have experienced a decrease in support due to the temporary closure/reduction in service provisions.

The successful design and delivery of digital healthcare is vital. Communication, surveillance and assessment technologies are increasingly becoming part of the fabric of the school environment, but little is known about the experience of pupils and the impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

‘Hacking the System’ is an exciting new co-production project, funded by eNurture UKRI mental health network that will do just that. Dr Kat Easton and Dr Victoria Betton from Peopledotcom are using co-creations hacks to understand young people’s experience of the Internet of Things (IoT) specifically in a secondary school environment.

We believe that any new services should be developed in collaboration with the people who will ultimately be using them.

Dr Kat Easton

Pitch-In digital mental health tools co-production (YouTube)

Activities include:

1. Mapping current IoT in schools
2. Undertake participatory work with young people who are affected by mental health issues or who may, in turn, experience unintended negative consequences of the adoption of IoT in their school.
3. Co-create ideal prototype IoT systems.
4. Have an expert adult/youth panel appraise the system/s.
5. Disseminate the findings as slide decks, blueprint, animation and an end of project webinar.

Access the free health technology webinars we ran in collaboration with Mindwave and experts in our field.